Space News from SpaceDaily.Com brings the space industry professional daily news from the frontier, with contract, bid, launch and on-orbit satellite news as it happens. 20-NOV-09 en-us Houston TX (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher completed the first spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. The 6-hour, 37-minute spacewalk wrapped up at 4:01 p.m. EST. Foreman and Satcher installed a spare S-band antenna structural assembly brought up in Atlantis' cargo bay.]]> Paris, France (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - The MIRAS instrument on ESA's SMOS satellite, launched earlier this month, has been switched on and is operating normally. MIRAS will map soil moisture and ocean salinity to improve our understanding of the role these two key variables play in regulating Earth's water cycle.]]> Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - 2009 will go down in history as one of the greatest years for lunar exploration. We were stunned by the discovery that the sun-drenched lunar surface, once thought to be bone dry, hosts small traces of water! Orbital observations of the Moon's polar regions revealed areas that are probably the coldest regions in the solar system, with temperatures plunging below that of Pluto!]]> Palo Alto CA (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - A radiation-resistant version of NRAM carbon-nanotube-based memory, developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Nantero, was tested on a recent Space Shuttle mission. The NRAM was incorporated by NASA into special autonomous testing configurations installed into a carrier at the aft end of the payload bay.]]> Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Nov 20, 2009 - The maiden launch of Russia's new Angara carrier rocket could be postponed for at least one year due to shortage of funds from the Defense Ministry, the top Russian space official said Wednesday.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - You don't always have to have a rocket to do rocket science. Sometimes a mere airplane will do - that is, a mere Boeing 747 toting a 17-ton, 9-foot wide telescope named SOFIA.]]> Washington DC (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - How can human spaceflight become routine, economical, practical and safe? How can a home and workplace be created in the extreme environment of space? What does the future hold for humans in space? Will people be able to travel to far-away worlds beyond the moon? Do the benefits of human spaceflight outweigh the risks and expense?]]> Rochester NY (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - A multi-trillion-watt laser at the University of Rochester has simulated a stellar jet-an outpouring of matter from a fledgling star-with unprecedented realism.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Nov 20, 2009 - The evolution of bulges in the centres of spiral galaxies puzzles astronomers. A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 4710 is part of a survey that has been conducted to learn more about the formation of bulges, which are a substantial component of most spiral galaxies.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - Sometimes you really can believe your eyes. That's what NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) is telling researchers about a controversial phenomenon on the sun known as the "solar tsunami."]]> Washington DC (SPX) Nov 20, 2009 - Two key instruments from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have a new home in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington after being returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis last May.]]> Mexico City, Mexico (XNA) Nov 20, 2009 - Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Wednesday that the nation is considering creating a space agency to boost the development of astronomy and space science.]]> Washington (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Astronauts from the shuttle Atlantis completed Thursday the first space walk of their mission, replacing a vital communications antenna on the exterior of the International Space Station.]]>